By Karan Thapar
In an interview to discuss the impact of seven years of Narendra Modi’s prime ministership of India, Pratap Bhanu Mehta says Modi has made the country communal and authoritarian.
He goes on to say that he has nightmares about what the future could hold for India.
Mehta says he fears that if the present impact of the Modi government continues India could fracture and there could be widespread violence.
In a 45-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Mehta, who is widely considered one of India’s foremost political thinkers and whose columns are widely read and respected, speaks about the collapse of institutions like parliament, which he says had more or less ceased to function.
Mehta says the failure of the media to challenge and question the government is exacerbated by the way several of its organs actually promote and actively spread communal poison.
Mehta says the worst collapse of all was the caving-in of the Supreme Court and that it has let down not just the constitution, which it exists to uphold, but the people of India. He adds that the Supreme Court’s caving-in has created an atmosphere of fear, as a result of which other institutions, like the media, are unable to stand up because they do not get the support and cover the court should provide them.
Mehta also speaks about the way communal dog whistle taunts against Muslims have become the norm. He cited, in particular, Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Adityanath.
Mehta says the Modi government has given legitimacy to communal tendencies which, earlier, were latent but suppressed. Now it’s acceptable to taunt Muslims and even demonise them.
This story first appeared on thewire.in